Hauling out of tiny Groveton, N.H., Randy Potter does more with less and is a consistent force on the American-Canadian Tour. / JUSTIN ST. LOUIS, for the Free Press

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Justin St. Louis

Three-time White Mountain Motorsports Park champion Quinny Welch is slated to make a run at the full ACT schedule for the first time. He finished fourth at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last September. / LEIF TILLOTSON, for the Free Press

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The local stock car racing season begins in earnest on Sunday as Lee USA Speedway hosts the American-Canadian Tour’s annual New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150.

After three dominant seasons, Brian Hoar has become a familiar name at the top of the results column. Quite simply, the ACT championship title is the Williston driver’s to lose.

Joey Polewarczyk Jr. of Hudson, N.H. – now considered an ACT veteran, even as he’s still two weeks shy of turning 23 – says he’s finally ready to wrest the crown away from Hoar. Again, Polewarczyk’s name (or at least his nickname “Joey Pole”) isn’t foreign around here anymore.

Those two drivers continue to be the face of American-Canadian Tour Late Model racing in the Northeast, but there are a few others looking to spoil the party – and they just might have a legitimate chance this year.

The new young star of ACT tried his hand running for the powerhouse RPM Motorsports group as a teammate to Brian Hoar last year, but found that he was better suited in his family’s own equipment. Theriault, 18, posted six consecutive top-five finishes to end the 2011 season, finished third in ACT points, and challenged for victories at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Oxford Plains. Theriault wants not only his first ACT win, but a championship. In the meantime, he moonlights in Super Late Model races down south as a development driver for a team owned by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winner Brad Keselowski.

Helliwell had a dream year in 2011: In his ACT car, he was the Ford Blue Oval Cup champion for the second time and the ACT Late Model Tour runner-up in his first year chasing the full schedule. In his open-wheel Supermodified, he won his sixth Lee USA Speedway track championship and was the NASCAR New Hampshire state champion for the second year in a row. All eyes are on Helliwell as ACT pulls into his home track on Sunday.

Potter is ACT’s low-buck every-man, a talented, tenacious racer who dips into his own pocket to buy tires for his race car. Potter has just one ACT victory, but he’s been rock steady his whole career. He’s the only driver to run in all 63 ACT races since 2007, and last year finished fifth in points with eight top-10s in 12 starts. Four of those finishes were podium runs – three in a row at mid-season, and a runner-up finish in the finale at Airborne Speedway. He led laps and finished sixth at Lee USA a year ago.

Welch is likely among the three best Late Model racers in northern New England to never have tackled a full ACT schedule. In the last five years, Welch has 20 victories and three track championships at White Mountain Motorsports Park in New Hampshire, plus he’s been a frequent top-ten and top-five finisher in his limited ACT appearances. If Welch should make a serious attempt at touring this year, he could be a true spoiler.

Maybe this is the year that seven-time ACT champion Cyr rejoins the conversation as a serious contender. Cyr is made of Hall-of-Fame stuff, but hasn’t been able to show it in the last two years. He has retooled his operation for 2012 and is hungrier than he’s ever been to get back into the winner’s circle.

In addition to those championship hopefuls, keep tabs on these occasional visitors, too:

Eddie MacDonald – Rowley, Mass.No. 17 NEMO Pontiac

“Outlaw” MacDonald is a two-time TD Bank Oxford 250 winner, a two-time ACT Invitational winner at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and was born and raised at family-owned Lee USA Speedway, site of Sunday’s race.

Jeff Taylor – Farmington, MaineNo. 88 Erik Designs Ford

Taylor is a nine-time Oxford Plains Speedway track champion and is the owner of Distance Racing, a top chassis builder. He made two ACT Late Model Tour starts last year and won them both, at Oxford and Beech Ridge Motor Speedway.

Nick Sweet – Barre, Vt.No. 88 Saint J Auto/Packard Fuels Pontiac

A former Thunder Road champion in his hometown, Sweet is a contender wherever he goes. Racing recently became more than a hobby – he now oversees Mad Dog Motorsports full-time for Burlington’s Eric Chase while also preparing his own car.

Laquerre can still get it done at age 68. He won a feature at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in West Haven last year and is teaming up with 15 year-old grandson Joey for some ACT races this year. Reportedly, he has a new chassis and Ford engine at the ready.

Brent Dragon – Milton, Vt.No. 55 Beverage Mart Chevrolet

Dragon will split his time between his own car and one owned by Dave Parker and Peter Duto. The Parker/Duto combination fielded cars last year for several drivers including Phil Scott and Brad Leighton. Rookie Bobby Therrien will also drive this year.

Qualifying for the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150 starts at 1:15 p.m. on Sunday at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, N.H. Same-day coverage of the main event will air on WDEV Radio at 96.1, 96.5, and 101.9 FM, and 550 AM.

Justin St. Louis is a motorsports journalist, publicist, broadcaster, and former driver. Email: jstlouis1315@gmail.com. Twitter: @Justin_StLouis